jfoobar

And Roger Ebert gives it....4 stars.

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/...IEWS/110919988

Berardinelli gives it 3 1/2:

http://www.reelviews.net/php_review_...dentifier=2349

Michael Phillips was less enthused, however:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entert...,718551.column

Osiris3657

96% on RT, wow. I'll be honest I was pretty "meh" about the trailer, but I'm floored by the almost universal praise for this movie. I'll check it out.

riotinmyskull

seeing this sunday...can't wait!

SkipKassidy

Saw Drive again last night over the chance of seeing Straw Dogs because

1) I wanted to see it again.
2) I wanted to see how some of the local critics would react.

They reacted just like I thought they would, and loved it as much as I did. As one critic eloquently put it, "my boner has boner," that's how good Drive was.

Geofferson

Same here. It's been a while since reviews alone will pull me to the theater to see a movie -- looks like this one will.

sharkstank

I have passes to see it tonight, looking forward to it. Liked Bronson and all the positive reviews, plus the great trailer has me ready to be entertained.

Greg MacGuffin

Ebert bumped it down to 3 1/2. Apparently there was some kind of error when he initially posted his review. He insists it's still really good though.

SkipKassidy

Since some of the local critics in Houston were putting up their reviews online today, I figured I'd share the love as well.

http://insidepulse.com/2011/09/15/drive-review/

Numanoid

There is some Oscar buzz around Albert Brooks role. Granted, that's all via retweets by Brooks, but it seems genuine. I'll see this for him and Carey Mulligan alone.

sharkstank

So I'm a bit delirious, had zero sleep last night, but Drive was really good. The movie was definitely not what I expected it to be, as it balanced a great, solemn main character, good drama and some out of nowhere, bad ass action. The movie takes its time to set up an awesome second half, and Refn does a great job making a scene say a lot without dialogue. Acting all around was great, this movie was a fun time.

***1/2 out of ****

notkevinbacon

I've been waiting for Nicholas Winding Refn to make this movie. I knew the guy had talent and have enjoyed moments from all of his films. I'll cite Bronson as my favorite (pre-Drive) and Valhalla Rising as my least favorite (by a wide margin). I need to give the Pusher trilogy another shake.

I just can't wait to see this again; far and away the best thing I've seen all year and likely one of the best of the past 10. I'd love to go on and on, but I know how those tl:dr posts go. There's just a lot to discuss in this flick.

This movie is a monster. In the best possible way. It's a slow guttural roll of an engine warming up before it turns over and over like bones grinding in food processor.

Some people ended up leaving near the end and the lady in front of me was quite visibly upset with how violent the movie got in some parts. Honestly, it is certainly violent and it definitely takes it's time building to it, but if you are into genre films or have seen Refn's other movies, it's not that crazy. Nor is it ever exploitative.

The acting, from established newer faces and some old dogs, is all around solid. Not a single weak performance... and to be expected, the leads are outstanding. Gosling, who I am finally really coming around to, is great. Setting aside my minor (enormous) crush on Mulligan and that particular bias, she's also in top form. It's hard to say bad things about guys like Al Brooks, Bryan Cranston or Ron Perlman and good thing I don't have to. Everyone is really, really on the ball here.

The lighting of the film is phenomenal. Just incredible. LA looks amazing in the night shots and character's spend the run time with their faces eclipsed in half shadows or in nearly blown out lighting in the back of the frame amongst silhouettes. Lamps have that eerie Lynchian glow. When I describe it this way is sounds like it may be too on the nose (everyone has secrets, two face, blah blah, yadda yadda), but I can promise you it's not. It's a very, very good looking movie.

The car chases are great... but nothing explodes. The most "Hollywood style" car chase we get is a brief scene where the Driver is working one of his day gigs as, well, a Hollywood stunt driver. He signs a release before flipping a car in a stunt. Little does anyone else on the set know that this is the safest kind of driving he does. Donning a really creepy latex face, that we hope comes back (it does!), he flips a car like it was a burger on a grill at McDonald's. And that's that.

This may be spoilerish, so on the safe side...



Great score/soundtrack, as well. A guy in front of me was trying to Shazam the opening credit song during the movie and I wanted to ask him if he's heard of the internet, or a soundtrack sold in CD stores, or iTunes, or the end credits where they list the tracks....

Solid Snake

Saw it today. It's an A for me. Audience reaction was enjoyable. Loved the music. Acting was solid. Loved how it was gritty when it had to be to go the lengths one must go at times but didn't permeate over the whole film. Damn fine film. My favorite of the year. I wonder what film stock was used for this cuz it did have a quality among it that fit well w/ the environments. It did very much in fact have a noirs vibe w/ an insertion of 70s cinema feel to it. Simple but very neat intro credits.

CloverClover

I don't think you guys are reading it right saying 'yo tht sh*t was badass' I think it was supposed to be more tragic than that

PopcornTreeCt

Where is the Reviews Thread for this movie? Well here's my star ranking: Yes, it was great. I loved it from beginning to the end. Gosling was perfect and Brooks was even better.

I agree about the lighting. I loved the look of the film. I have to admit I was pretty jarred by the violence. I just didn't expect it. You know that other thread about scenes that couldn't be shown nowadays? Well there were scenes in this flick that couldn't be shown back in the day.

Loved it. Only complaint is that there were only about 10 people in the matinee screening. I hope this becomes more popular via word of mouth.

One last thing, I think this will become somewhat of a cult classic. It's a guy's guy movie and one of the "coolest" movies I've ever seen.

FantasticVSDoom

Yeah movie of the year by wide margin so far for me... Thought everyone was great with Brooks really standing out. Cant wait to get this one on BD especially for the elevator scene.

riotinmyskull

loved it. one of the year's best easily. can't wait to see what refn does next. just awesome style without coming across too flashy and a wonderful genre film. great soundtrack. simply amazing.

Dr. DVD

Saw it. Liked it , but don't really get all of the gushing over it. My experience with Refn is watching about 1/3 of Valhalla Rising and never really returning to it. This movie was very much an art house/auteur (sp?) one, and I have a feeling were I more familiar with his other works, I would think more of the movie. I did not dislike it at all. As a film noir, this was really good. Hell, I would almost say it works as an homage to action movies of the mid to late 80s as well. It works on several levels, and the acting is great from everyone involved.

That said, I can tell a lot of the mainstream public will not like this, as it relies heavily on the viewer knowing the "rules" by which a typical noir film plays. I also don't think the marketing campaign of making it look more action like is helping either.



Question: does anyone know how many times this movie had to get cut to secure an R rating? I think this was the most NC-17 type R I have seen in terms of violence. I have to say that the re-make of Straw Dogs was playing across the hallway, but this was definitely more in the vein of Peckinpah than that will ever be.

Osiris3657

A movie that actually lives up to the hype, nice. This didn't have much fanfare coming in (and apparently not much marketing) since I live in the 4th largest city in the US but there were maybe 25 people at the screening I attended.
Anyway it was great...it was part indie drama, part action...and it worked. I got a "No Country For Old Men" vibe while watching it. A quiet film with little wasted dialogue, interspersed with moments of awesome hardcore violence.
Well acted, well directed...best movie I've seen this year.
Bronson, Valhalla Rising, and now Drive all are excellent movies so I'm looking forward to Refn's future work. His next project also stars Gosling and the plot is as follows: "A Bangkok police lieutenant and a gangster settle their differences in a Thai-boxing match." Sounds good to me.

Mike86

I saw it last night. It was good but I didn't exactly love it to be honest. Some parts it almost felt like they were just going for shock value with the over the top violence and gross scenes. Plus to be honest it didn't seem like Gosling's character had much motivation for what he was doing. I mean I get that he liked the girl but that makes him turn into a psychotic killer apparently? I don't know some of it just didn't go over that well with me. Best thing about it for me was that I enjoyed seeing Cranston on screen and hope he starts getting bigger parts in movies now that I think he's really stepped up and shown what he can do with Breaking Bad. I'd give this movie a 3.5 out of 5.

RichC2

What's wrong with him being a psychopath with a heart of gold?

Daytripper

Wow, what a ride! No pun. The trailers sure don't show that it has a nice slow pace and film noir. And I'm glad they didn't so more people will see it because it's hands down one of the best films of the year. I especially loved the 80's feel of it. Right down to the credits and cheesey synth songs. Which worked beautifully. Kind of felt like the love child of "To Live and Die in L.A." and "Blood Simple". My highest rating, 10/10

Osiris3657

He's a criminal, he wasn't this innocent guy before he met her...he has a shady past that's probably involved him killing before.

Solid Snake

I don't think he's a psychopath at all. Seemed like a guy (who was a criminal btw) who had no choice but to go the route he did to ensure the safety of those he cared about.

Mike86

Well I understand that he was a criminal before and probably had a sketchy past but it seemed like the film was trying to establish that he didn't want to be anything more than the wheelman for jobs. All the sudden he's turned into a whack job and curb stomping some guy. It was just a little much I thought but whatever. I didn't think it was bad I just don't see why people are acting like it's the best thing this year thus far.

anomynous

Because it is?


Anyway, just got back from seeing it. 5/5 easily. Loved everything about it.